Monday, June 1, 2009

Recent Creations

So, yeah, I have been rather remiss in my blogging as of late. It's this brutal transition from spring to summer....ugh! One would THINK that after 10 Dallas summer, I would be used to the brutal heat, scorching sun, and wilting humidity!

However, the heat has NOT stopped the creative machine that I am (hahaha!), here's some recent things I've thrown together, and a view of what happens when you keep curly willow branches around!!

I found these GORGEOUS pink bi-color roses, white roses, and a few solid pink roses, hand-tied (and all the roses are the HUGE ones, I really do try to always work with the larger roses...60-70cm. They just make that much MORE of a statement! And contrary to what many will tell you, they are NOT that much more expensive. Don't settle for 40-cm roses ladies!!!!) with this unique two-tone wired ribbon, accented with a gorgeous antique "something blue" brooch. Even more amazing, I took all the pictures! (in the middle of the night...and even employed a couple new photography tricks!)

A close up of the brooch I stuck on here. Another brooch that I picked up in a lot on ebay (love ebay for wedding items!! IF you know what to look for!!). I put it on here merely for the purpose of taking the picture, so if this brooch is your hearts desire, I am sure I can part with it. It's blue crystals, and tiny little seed "pearls" (not real I am sure). Even further creating the authenticity of it being an antique, it's missing a couple stones. Very much a "something old" item!! I just love this one, it's really one of the more unique brooches I have come across.

Curly Willow is VERY popular for centerpieces. It's gorgeous, TALL, and it really makes a statement. Plus it's not a small fortune. However, I have recently discovered something new about this little branch. When kept in water, water that is changed and kept fresh, it makes roots, THEN it makes new growth! So while the hydrangeas have long since dried out (but I keep them, just because they are still beautiful, plus it's great to see an example of "width" in a centerpiece), these curly willow branches just get prettier!!

As I started only really "tending" 3 of the 5 "sticks", only 3 have sprouted at this point. But you can see in this closeup, how much new growth there is! When I first purchased these about a month ago, they were just sticks, with about 5 green spots.Now they have roots, and are really sprouting! So my experiment will continue, to see how green I can actually get these suckers. I have faith I can get them pretty green, because the curly willow from the Ling/Lichliter wedding is doing the same thing, it just has about a month head start on mine. I need to pop back down there and take a picture of the two big vases of them, they are GORGEOUS!! We used those HUGE vases (that are really big candle holders from Target), and put the rocks in the bottom. Now the roots are growing into the rocks, the branches just so green & lovely, that I am going to attempt to make the bit I have in MY house do the same thing!!

I didn't take a picture of the roots on MY curly willow yet, because it's not enough to show up on the camera. I estimate a few more weeks, it will really be awesome!!! And yes, those hydrangeas are dead...they've dried out, but still retain their shape, color, etc. I love it!!

A pretty little bouquet. White & Pink roses, Hot Pink Hydrangea, Blue Hydrangea, and these GORGEOUS big leafy green things that I have NO idea what they are, but I have to find out, because they are just awesome!

Side view. You can see the fun "treatment" that I gave the handle...with the chocolate satin ribbon, and chocolate "sparkle" tulle. I don't normally cover the handle entirely, but I thought it would be pretty on this one. Especially with the big green things in the bouquet.

For some reason, I cannot get the second bouquet to "flip" (the photograph!!). It's white roses, bi-color pink roses, with blue hydrangeas throughout. I did the hand-tied effect, on this one I first wrapped the stems with chocolate satin ribbon, and then did a french-style wrap with the turquoise blue ribbon, and added some pearls. A bride of mine, Karen, we are doing something nearly identical, but with just WHITE roses, and then the gorgeous dark purple calla lilies. Her color of blue is a tad lighter, but I believe she's wanting a similar wrap on the handle. Unless I find something so fabulous, she changes her mind! *smiles*

Which brings me to this. So I had mentioned the whole finding dresses on the fly, etc. I found the most GORGEOUS silk Lazaro gown. It's this stunning Ivory silk, but the style, no way, it's such a throwback to the 90's. However, I picked it up so cheap (under $20), I am going to do the unthinkable and take it apart for the fabric. Ivory silk bouquet wraps....how gorgeous will that be? *drools* At a cheaper cost than the synthetic ones I can get through my wholesaler! (and can be completely custom!!)

So, off to find a decent pair of scissors. I lost my really good pair at a recent wedding. WHOOPS!